Lunch among the tombstones
Green spaces are precious in the City. Office workers who cannot face the idea of eating with their colleagues in the canteen yet again buy a sandwich or a salad and take it to a bench in a nearby park. And if the park happens to be a cemetery, as in the case of Bunhill Fields on the northern edge of the finance district, why should that spoil their appetite?
The name derives from »bone hill«. In the 16th century, human remains were piled up here on marshy ground and covered with earth, as the ossuary of St Paul’s Cathedral was full to the brim. After the Great Plague of 1665, thousands more bodies were dumped on the site, which then remained in use as an unconsecrated burial ground – not for Anglicans but for Dissenters, i.e. members of the Baptist, Quaker and other Protestant groups. By the time the cemetery was closed in 1852, tens of thousands had been laid to rest here, including some prominent persons: Daniel Defoe, the author of »Robinson Crusoe«; the itinerant preacher John Bunyan, who wrote »The Pilgrim’s Progress«; and the visionary poet and artist William Blake.
Info
Address Between City Road and Bunhill Row, EC1Y 2BG | Public Transport Old Street (Northern Line) | Hours April–Sept Mon–Fri 8am–7pm, Sat, Sun 9.30am–7pm; Oct–March Mon–Fri 8am–4pm, Sat, Sun 9.30am–4pm | Tip Directly opposite Bunhill Fields on City Road are the chapel and house of John Wesley (1703–91), the founder of Methodism. A museum there is devoted to the history of this denomination (Mon–Sat 10am–4pm).
In the 19th century, and again in the 1960s following war damage, Bunhill Fields was made into a park. Mossy stones, crosses leaning at an angle and a few massive, ivy-covered tombs stand in densely packed rows beneath plane, oak, ash and sycamore trees. Defoe is honoured by an obelisk, Bunyan by a large tomb bearing the image of a pilgrim. Perhaps the most edifying grave of all is that of Mary Page, with an inscription detailing the sufferings that she endured with Christian fortitude: she had so much fluid in her body that it had to be tapped 66 times in the space of 67 months, extracting no less than 240 gallons altogether. Relaxing on seats with a view of this medical history, office workers from the City wash down their ciabatta and baguette with gallons of caffè latte.
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